Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Roger Norrington, London Classical Players :: Symphonies 5 & 6

Period recordings getting period reviews

03/11/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is appropriate that Norrington should receive such wide condemnation from certain sectors of the classical world. Norrington's versions of Beethoven rely on the tempo markings that Beethoven supplied, uses playing techniques of the time, and instruments which are strung and handled out of that period.So often this period Beethoven elicits reviews that read out of the period. Beethoven was "vulgar", he went for "cheap effects" and created "disturbance". In truth something different is going on, Beethoven is a man in a hurry, reaching stretching and pushing towards a new musical world based on new ideas. One of the most cardinal of these ideas is the idea of symmetry in proportion of music. Haydn pursued symmetry of the oval in his music, there is a center line around which the piece is symmetrical, and only one. Look at the 54 quartets - what we have been taught as the parts of a sonata exist in various different proportions, but the first movement always has a mid point, often in the early development, which serves as the symmetrical point of the movement. What we have been taught as the traditional parts of a sonata form are present in varying sizes and shapes.Beethoven pursued symmetry down into the sections of the development itself, making each movement a mini symphony, each part a mini-sonata. The restoration of the correct tempi reaffirm the connections which are so often torn apart by differing readings. A simple example. In the 6th symphony first movement there is the famous "water" music section, where a rushing ostinato is used to create the feel of cataracts in a mountain stream. but just before them there is a particular prepertory musical figure. This figure again shows up in the recapitulation. If the water music is played in its usual form, the analogy that Beethoven draws, between the placid pool at the bottom of the falls and the placid light of morning after the rush of light to dawn, is lost.Here it is reconnected. That alone is worth the price of the recording.Stirling S Newberry"

Purity and trueness to Beethoven without pomposity.

David E. Haupt | Cedar Rapids, IA USA | 12/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I heard the 6th from this album the other day on the radio while driving home, and it was by far the best rendition of the work I had ever heard. I decided to buy it when I found out who the conductor and orchestra were.Purity and trueness to Beethoven without pomposity is what we have here. A conductor's petty manipulations to make his mark is what irritates me, and there is none of that on this album. This conductor knows how to present the work and get out of Beethoven's way. It comes off more powerfully without the bombasticism we are accustomed to hearing, especially the 6th Symphony, which I think Beethoven wrote for pure enjoyment. To me the emotion comes from realization of what a genius Beethoven was."